At Mardi Gras, the lines of good taste are often blurred, and there’s usually no such thing as a joke that crosses the line. But a set-to between two of the city’s most popular — and bitingly satirical — Carnival krewes has some members of one krewe calling for possible criminal charges, and one krewe chalking it up to “much ado about nothing.”

View full sizeThe Times-PicayuneDozens, if not hundreds, of stickers were affixed to Krewe d'Etat floats, on riders' costumes and on some vehicles used in the parade.

Members of Le Krewe d’Etat suspect that it was Krewe of Muses members or their associates who affixed dozens, if not hundreds, of stickers on their floats, on riders’ costumes and on some vehicles used in their parade.

The stickers featured a red high-heeled shoe, the Muses signature, poking out the eye of the Krewe d’Etat’s skull logo. The coaster-sized stickers showed blood spurting from the shoe wound. Stickers were also placed on the ground outside the krewe’s headquarters, as well as at the starting point of Krewe d'Etat's parade.

The incident appears to be the latest in a developing beef between the clubs.

Last year, d’Etat featured a float that likened the Muses membership to cows. Members of Muses enlisted parade-watchers to jeer as it passed.

Since then, the back-and-forth, both on the Internet and along the parade route, has ramped up.

Tommy Mitchell, a Krewe d’Etat spokesman, said the group is looking into the stickering and will handle the matter privately.

“We have gotten information, and we have suspicions, but we can’t accuse anyone because we don’t have hard, concrete proof,” Mitchell said. “I know there have been posts out there attributing it to Muses, though I can’t say that. No matter who did this, this organization doesn’t think there is a place for it in Mardi Gras.”

Mitchell acknowledged that the two krewes have taken a keen interest in each other’s floats.

“There may have been people who may have taken a float we had in our parade last year a little bit to heart, not as if it was in the fun of Mardi Gras,” he said. “But it’s all in good fun and satire. It’s not personal.”

Muses leadership did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Instead, the krewe’s publicist, Denise Estopinal, issued a statement to The Times-Picayune last weekend that stopped somewhere short of a denial.

“With all the serious issues facing our city, this is much ado about nothing,” Estopinal wrote. “Trying to elevate this to something other than a prank is absurd. Last year, a lot of people were upset about d’Etat’s depiction of Muses on one of their floats, which was considered mean-spirited. Perhaps this resulted from that.

“In any event, it was not a krewe action. Let’s move forward and get back to what we exist to do: plan next year’s parade to entertain and wow the crowds.”

In some ways, the two krewes couldn’t be more different. The male-dominated Krewe d’Etat has roots in old-line New Orleans Carnival culture. Formed in 1996, the group’s membership and leaders remain shrouded in mystery. The all-female Muses, established via open membership in 2000, emerged quickly in the Carnival scene and has few links to the pomp-and-circumstance of Carnival past.

But the two krewes share a love of no-holds-barred mockery, and in their respective parades — which roll on consecutive nights — the two groups have often seemed determined to out-clever one another.

The rivalry burst into the public consciousness with last year’s Krewe d’Etat float the “Triple Sow Cow.” In keeping with the group’s sports theme, the float depicted cows on ice skates, the title a nod to an figure-skating maneuver.

The krewe’s parade pamphlet noted, “Our version of this now classic move features a certain ‘krewe’ of whirling dervishes whose spins on things have slung mud (and ice) on many others in the past. But this time, the high-heeled mudslingers are in for the Tonya Harding treatment themselves.”

The pamphlet potshot continued: “Watch for the old footwear that might also be flung from this float. Who knows, perhaps this year these full-figured skaters might even be able to witness this spectacle, rather than once again riding in our wake.”

Muses was not amused. Members reportedly were tipped off to the bovine broadside and held protest signs along the route, greeting their rivals with cat calls of “moo.”

And so, the bad blood simmered for a year.

Officially, the Muses responded this year with tossing beads attached to a plastic cow figurine stamped with the words, “udderly a-MOO-sing.” Press on a button and the pendant lights up and lets out a long moo.

Krewe d’Etat rolled the following night. This year, the parade included a float dedicated to the city’s all-female krewes and marching clubs. The artwork depicted a Muses member fighting a battle for supremacy with a member of Nyx, the brand-new female krewe that rolled for the first time this year.

Though Muses has attempted to distance itself from the dispute, a self-identifying member of Muses wrote about the prank on an Internet messageboard.

As first reported by Gambit, this person, under the user name “leftoverhill,” posted: “Sister Muses — did we all help with Operation Sticker during Krewe d’Etat? That was fun.” The message was placed under an online news story about the krewe’s recent charitable efforts.